Cultural Trauma and the Transmission of Traumatic Experience

Experiences of loss, tragedy, violence, and upheavals are ubiquitous, with the majority of individuals experiencing several distressing events during their lifetime. Such events may be conceptualized as “traumatic” and contribute to negative changes in mental health. Despite decades of research on the study and treatment of trauma, it remains unclear when a negative event becomes traumatic. Although biologically- and psychologically-based models shed light on this question, we propose a more comprehensive and nuanced conceptualization will emerge from the integration of cultural theories into individual-level analysis when examining the evolution of trauma processing across time.